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Britney Spears is trying to put to bed the whole issue surrounding her knives, saying they were rented from a prop store -- while pleading with her worried fans to stop calling police.

In an Instagram message Thursday, Brit says she realizes she scared people with her video post showing her dancing with knives. Some of her supporters were so spooked they called the cops, who arrived on Brit's doorstep for a welfare check.

But, Brit insists the knives are "fake" as she has said before -- and now she claims her team rented them from "Hand Prop shop" in Los Angeles. (She might have meant "The Hand Prop Room.")

Driving the point home, Brit writes, "These are not real knives. No one needs to worry or call the police."

She went on, "I’m trying to imitate one of my favorite performers Shakira … a performance I was inspired by !!!"

Brit ended with ... "Cheers to us bad girls who aren’t afraid to push boundaries and take risks."

All the drama began Monday when Brit posted the IG clip of herself pirouetting with very real-looking knives in each hand. Brit wrote in the caption, "I started playing in the kitchen with knives today." Later on, she added the knives were fake Halloween props.

One of the reasons people were skeptical of her story ... you hear the clanging sound of knives when they touch.

Not long thereafter, Britney posted another video with a bandage around one of her arms and a cut on her leg. She didn't say how it happened, but lots of people were alarmed.

Not everyone believed Brit, and several people called the Ventura County Sheriff's Department out of concern. TMZ broke the story Thursday ... deputies responded to Brit's home for a welfare check ... but Brit's security said she was fine and that was that.

The Sphere in Vegas -- a remarkable architectural and technological wonder -- is finally open for business Friday night in Vegas!

The Sphere -- which took 4 years to build at a cost of $2.3 BILLION -- will open its doors to 17,500 lucky fans who will watch U2 christen the venue.

The stats are breathtaking ... it's 360 feet tall and 516 feet wide ... the largest spherical structure on planet Earth. Another record -- its 580,000 square-foot LED exterior, which can be programmed to display the coolest images y'all have ever seen.

There are 167,000 speakers in the joint, and they say the sound is just incredible.

Of course, there's a big AI presence ... 5 AI humanoid robots will greet visitors as they gawk at what's inside.

The venue will not only host concerts, there will be super cool events like a feature called "Postcard from Earth" directed by Darren Aronofsky.

Jeezy and his estranged wife, Jeannie Mai, are still living under the same roof as their divorce grinds through the legal system ... but it's as awkward as it could be.

Sources familiar with the situation tell TMZ ... Jeezy and Jeannie are still living together in Georgia, but there's very little interaction going down between them -- they cross paths as they come and go from the house, but that's about it.

We're told the priority for both is their 1-year-old daughter, Monaco.

The divorce came as a total shock to Jeannie ... so there's a lot of anxiety and tension in the home.

As we reported, Jeezy filed for divorce in Georgia this month, claiming there was no hope for reconciliation. We're told they have a prenup, and it's likely it does not favor Jeannie ... which just amps up the tension.

Jeannie was also at the center of cheating rumors, with some folks thinking she had a thing with "Access Hollywood" cohost, Mario Lopez ... but a source close to Jeannie told us that was absolutely not true.

Home Depot says Tyrese Gibson is lying about racism in his $1 million lawsuit against them ... and they say there's video evidence backing them up.

Home Depot just responded to Tyrese's lawsuit ... pushing back against his claims of racial discrimination on the part of their cashiers.

According to new legal docs, obtained by TMZ, Home Depot claims Tyrese came into their store and brought a bunch of items to the cash register, where the cashier scanned everything. HD says Tyrese then went back for more shopping, leaving the register for 25 minutes and forcing the cashier to clear out his transaction.

It's a different story from Tyrese's original complaint, where he claims a computer glitch caused the delay. He also said that because of the alleged delay, people started recognizing him and, feeling uncomfortable, he went to the parking lot instead of staying around to oversee the transaction

Tyrese claimed he told the cashier his two helpers would finish the purchase with his credit card and said she understood his instructions before he left the store ... and said he was told he could go wait outside and she would finish the transaction.

Home Depot claims their surveillance shows Tyrese did NOT speak face-to-face with any of their cashiers.

Remember ... Tyrese also got on FaceTime with a cashier from outside the store and authorized her to complete the transaction his partners were trying to make with his card, but she -- and her manager -- said that wouldn't work, and he would have to come back to the store to show ID.

That's about the only part of the story both sides agree upon -- and, further, Home Depot says its surveillance footage shows Tyrese coming back into the store and getting into a heated discussion, which ends with him showing his ID and the cashier completing his transaction.

Tyrese told us it was hard to sue Home Depot because he's a longtime customer and the store is like his Disneyland ... but Home Depot says they don't know how long he's shopped there and aren't sure how much he's spent over the years -- Tyrese claims it's close to $10 million over 2 decades.

Toby Keith hasn't lost his sense of humor amid his battle with stomach cancer ... providing some levity as he accepted the Country Music Icon Award.

The singing legend walked onstage at the People's Choice Country Awards 2023 Thursday night to receive the inaugural statue for his amazing work as an entertainer, humanitarian and businessman.

And it was none other than country crooner Blake Shelton who handed Toby the trophy after a video montage honoring Keith and showing him through the years.

Toby then stepped up to the mic and quickly hit the punchline ... "Bet you thought you'd never see me in skinny jeans."

Of course, Toby was referring to his weight loss due to his cancer diagnosis, but the audience just loved it, breaking out in laughter.

Toby continued, "I want to thank the almighty for allowing me to be here tonight. You've been riding shotgun with me for a little while."

He also gave props to his family and his team, pointing out "a lot of people go into making a big career like this of 30 years." But, Toby gave the biggest shout-out to his multitude of fans.

Kevin McGrath, the missing Carnival cruise passenger who mysteriously disappeared during a Bahamas trip, was on probation at the time ... which adds a whole new wrinkle to the case.

McGrath's legal troubles might provide another clue in his Labor Day weekend disappearance, which led to a Coast Guard search that has since been called off without finding him.

According to legal docs, obtained by TMZ, McGrath pleaded guilty to aggravated assault in Tennessee in September 2022 -- his wife said he threatened to kill her and their kids -- and he ended up getting sentenced to 6 years of supervised probation.

The docs say McGrath got permission to move from Tennessee to Florida, where he was living with his parents ... and the cruise was a celebration for his father's 60th birthday.

But, McGrath's probation officers say he never got permission to go on the cruise, and it appears his probation office only found out he was aboard the ship when the media reported he'd vanished.

What's more, the docs say he's violating probation by failing to maintain communication with his probation officer. All attempts to contact him have been unsuccessful since the cruise, and his whereabouts remain unknown.

The PO also says McGrath is delinquent on $241.20 in probation fees, and he hasn't made any payments toward court fees. He's on probation for

McGrath vanished as the cruise was returning to Florida from the Bahamas. He was apparently last seen the night of Sept. 3 and his keycard was used to enter his room at 3:30 AM the next day. His family had planned to meet for breakfast, but he didn't show up and was reported missing when everyone got off the ship.

Cops say Carnival staff and security scoured the ship for McGrath ... and the ship's overboard detection system never alarmed. Bottom line: Police say there is no evidence he went overboard, and there was no sign of him onboard.

The U.S. Coast Guard brought in helicopters to search 3,300 square nautical miles for McGrath but didn't find a trace and called off the search.

Kellyanne Conway has nothing but great things to say about her daughter, Claudia ... calling her an independent woman who's making big moves straight out of high school.

We got the former Senior Counselor to Donald Trump Wednesday night at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in CA, after the Republican debate came to a close.

Kellyanne let us know how 18-year-old Claudia's career as a singer has been going, a few years after making a name for herself on season 19 of "American Idol."

According to Kellyanne, Claudia's doin' great outside music, too -- saying she got herself a fellowship in the Big Apple while taking a gap year from school.

We also ask her what she thinks about her kid being a part of Playboy earlier this year, but KC says her daughter's an entrepreneur and an independent gal, and she's proud of her ... although she claims Claudia's Playboy days might be over.

It sounds like the 2 have a much better relationship these days. In 2021, Claudia secretly filmed and posted a video of Kellyanne screaming and cussing her out.

Claudia later posted a video of Kellyanne talking with cops about their explosive confrontation ... and law enforcement sources told us cops did a welfare check after the intense video was shared.

"I can't imagine after all the talk he's done on X, after all the s*** he said, what it's going to be like to be trapped in a ring with me -- he has made a grave error. And assuming he shows up, October 14 will be the worst night of his life."

Logan Paul is champing at the bit to get revenge on Dillon Danis when they officially face off in their boxing match next month ... telling TMZ Sports his opponent is going to regret making it personal.

Of course, the former Bellator fighter has been on a tear on social media leading up to the bout ... targeting Paul's model fiancee, Nina Agdal, to the point she had to file a restraining order and lawsuit against him.

We spoke with Paul about the pre-fight antics ... and while he said he knew D.D. would bring the trash talk, he pointed out it's a bit different when lawyers gotta get involved.

"He's a crybaby, legitimately," Paul said. "I'm not just saying this to be like a mean fight companion trying to rile him up. He's a coward. He's made this fight entirely about a woman -- he chose to pick a fight with a woman. She fought back. He's whining about it. He's upset. He's making excuses left, right and center."

Logan added he believes Danis never planned to actually go through with the fight ... and only agreed to it so he could get clout and attention.

"He's the king of the ducks, all bark, no bite."

Despite going after Agdal, Logan said he's not worried one bit about getting too angry before entering the ring with his nemesis ... saying there's nothing Danis could do to get under his skin.

Speaking of Agdal, Logan said she WILL be at the fight in Manchester ... as they've both been fighting their own wars against Danis in their own ways.

Before this honest little baby turned into a movie star and stellar businesswoman, she was just eager to start acting ... graduating high school at age 16 and going off to New York City where she performed at the Atlantic Theater Company.

At age 13, she made her film debut in "Camp Nowhere," which was definitely just the start of her career. To date, she's appeared in more than 42 movies ... with "Fantastic Four" and "Good Luck Chuck" just being a couple of her classics!

Need one more clue? She has 3 kiddos!

Strange time for a nap ... Alex Jones literally went to sleep while appearing as a guest on Craig Jones' (no relation!) show on Thursday after the Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu champ sent the controversial host to La La Land with a super tight rear-naked choke! 😴

49-year-old Jones' was appearing on Craig's "El Segundo Podcast" when the IBJJF world champ got to live out the real-life fantasy of many of Alex's opponents, literally putting the Infowars host to sleep square in his chair on set.

It's unclear what led up to the submission (Alex was clearly down with it) ... and given Craig's one of the best in the world when it comes to strangling people (he coaches Alex Volkanovski and Israel Adesanya), it didn't take him long.

Craig posted video of the incident ... and had some fun with the caption, writing, "The CIA sent me but I couldn’t do my dad like that"

Again, no father-son relation here.

The clip starts with the choke already in deep. After about 8 seconds of pressure, Jones' eyes rolled back, and he was out cold.

Almost 10 seconds later, Alex finally wakes up ... but clearly had no idea what the hell just happened -- common among people who have been choked out.

"What? What'd I just do?" Alex asked, looking around.

Presumably, Craig will drop more videos with Alex when the pod episode debuts.

New video from inside the horrific fire at a wedding in Iraq shows how quickly the flames spread in only seconds before over 100 people were killed.

The clips show the happy couple dancing inside the Al Haithem wedding hall near the village of Qaraqosh also known as Al-Hamdaniya Tuesday night. A series of sparklers goes off around them, starting the blaze and sending guests into a panic.

Flowers hanging from a massive truss above the couple seem to act as fuel to the flames, going up almost immediately as embers fall to the ground.

After most had evacuated the main room, huge beams -- completely on fire -- crashed to the ground. Footage after the fatal incident shows the intense destruction caused to the building.

The bride and groom reportedly made it out alive, but Reuters says 113 people have been confirmed dead, and another 150 suffered injuries. Iraq's Interior Ministry has allegedly issued arrest warrants for the owners of the wedding hall, with 1 already in cuffs as of Thursday.

Survivors from the wedding fire claim the place wasn't equipped for a disaster like this ... and one woman told the outlet, "This was not a wedding. This was hell," while crying and hitting herself after losing her 27-year-old daughter and 3 grandkids in the fire -- one of whom was just 8 months old.

Gypsy Rose Blanchard is getting out of prison early ... she's been granted parole and is set to be released in December, three years before her original release date.

Gypsy, who's been serving a 10-year prison sentence after being convicted of second-degree murder in connection with the death of her mother, Dee Dee Blanchard, is set to be released on parole Dec. 28 ... according to the Missouri Department of Corrections.

Remember ... Gypsy was sentenced to a decade behind bars in 2016 after pleading guilty in her mother's murder, a case that spawned a Hulu scripted series and an HBO documentary.

You'll recall ... Gypsy's then-boyfriend, Nick Godejohn, admitted to murdering Dee Dee in 2015 to help Gypsy escape her mother's clutches. He's currently serving a life sentence, while Gypsy was originally set to be released from custody in 2026 after pleading guilty to second-degree murder.

Dee Dee was accused of forcing Gypsy to pretend to be disabled for years, holding her hostage and even tying her up in a bed after Gypsy tried to escape. Dee Dee reportedly suffered from Munchausen by proxy -- a mental disorder where a parent fabricates illnesses in their child for sympathy or attention.

Gypsy is 32 years old now, and she's said in interviews from prison she feels more free behind bars than she was when she was living with her mother.

Folks who made a killing reselling tickets to some of the year's hottest concerts like Taylor Swift, Beyoncé -- or even big sporting events like Lionel Messi's Miami games -- are gonna have to pay up, courtesy of the IRS.

New rules for the 1099-K form say those who unloaded tickets on StubHub or Ticketmaster, selling more than $600 worth of tickets this year, are now required to put the earnings down as taxable income.

The 1099-K form focuses on payments received from credit and debit cards, gift cards, and third-party payment networks and online marketplaces -- which fits Ticketmaster and StubHub right in that lineup.

As you know, resellers were practically top dogs in the world of live events this year ... whether it be selling back to Swifties at the Eras Tour, or fans of Queen Bey wanting to go to her Renaissance Tour.

Even tickets for Messi's soccer games were getting resold for a steep markup.

Miley Cyrus just got court-ordered protection from a man she claims is so obsessed with her he showed up at her home days after being released from prison.

According to new legal docs, obtained by TMZ, the singer beelined it to court this week to file for a temporary restraining order against a 52-year-old man named Alexander Kardalian.

Miley claims the guy has flooded her mailbox with obsessive letters since 2018, often requesting money and making sexually explicit comments about his desire for her.

She says his "obsessive behavior" escalated in the summer of 2022, when she claims he twice showed up to her Los Angeles property and was given the boot.

Miley claims he was arrested in December 2022 and locked up at San Quentin State Prison until this past August, when she says he once again showed up at her front gate only days after getting out from behind bars.

In the docs, Miley claims the guy sent her a letter from prison stating his intention to come to her home, and he followed through ... but was stopped by her security, who contacted police. She says the cops told him to leave and he would be arrested if he came back.

Since the alleged incident, Miley claims she's learned the guy is using her address for his health insurance ... and she says he wrote a letter to her saying if she didn't write back he "doesn't give a f*** if he lives."

Miley says the guy's behavioral patterns show he's suffering from "severe mental health challenges" and she says he has a "dangerous fixation and/or obsession" with her ... and she's worried about her safety, and the lives of her mother, Tish, and boyfriend, musician Maxx Morando.

Taylor Swift might be inching closer to adding another member to her girl squad ... and she's got some serious ties to Travis Kelce and the Kansas City Chiefs.

Sources with direct knowledge tell us Taylor and Chiefs' QB Patrick Mahomes' wife, Brittany Mahomes, really hit it off Sunday night at Kelce's private post-game party. Our sources say the two chatted a ton at the bash ... and at one point even took a shot together.

What's more, we're told, Brittany and Taylor were overheard saying they wanted to stay in touch ... and have plans to meet up again in the near future.

Of course, Taylor's supposed to attend this Sunday's Chiefs game against The New York Jets at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey ... so they'll at least see each other at the game.

Brittany aside, Taylor also spent plenty of time with Travis at the party ... and could be seen with her arm draped around the NFL star in a photo we obtained from inside the event.

Brittany and Patrick's brother, Jackson, have been the faces of the KC team for years now (other than the athletes, of course) so to see Taylor take the spotlight has certainly been a shift in power.

Social media went wild during Taylor's appearance at Sunday's game when she sat in a private booth next to Travis' mom, Donna. Brittany wasn't in that box, but memes started popping up questioning whether or not she was jealous of the attention on Taylor.

Tom Sandoval says he was close to taking his own life during the aftermath of his affair with Rachel Leviss.

The "Vanderpump Rules" star says there were times during the Scandoval when he "felt very, very close" to committing suicide.

Tom makes the sobering revelation Thursday in the first episode of his podcast, "Everybody Loves Tom," and says the backlash from the affair put him in a bad headspace that had a domino effect that brought him to the brink of suicide.

Following Scandoval, Tom says his world started collapsing and he couldn't see outside his feelings. He says things reached a head one day when he got back to the home he shares with his ex, Ariana Madix.

Tom also recalls a story about running into late Linkin Park singer Chester Bennington a few days before he committed suicide in July 2017 ... with Tom saying he never understood how Chester could be in that frame of mind until he found himself in the middle of the Scandoval.

Thankfully, Tom says he had a few friends who were there for him despite all the drama ... and he's giving them props for basically saving his life.

Remember ... Rachel also dealt with mental health issues over the bombshell affair, spending a few months in a mental health facility.

Rachel ended up quitting 'VPR' but Tom was back filming the most recent season ... and it will be interesting to see if he talked about his suicidal thoughts on camera or if he just saved it for his podcast.